Abstract: Although
the raccoon (Procyon rotor) is commonly harvested and consumed throughout
the southeastern United States, little is known regarding the fate and effects
of environmental pollutants to this species, and the potential for it to act asa contaminant vector to humans or other predators. Muscle and liver tissues
were collected from 76 raccoons from locations on ornear the Department
off Energy 's Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina analyzed for
radiocesium (137Cs). Raccoons were trapped from areas near a former
reactor cooling reservoir known to be contaminated from former nuclear
production activities, a stream drainage system also known to have received 137Cscontamination from low level releases, and
4 on-site reference areas that have been unimpacted by nuclear production
activities. Raccoons from 3 hunting areas 3-15 km of SRS were used as off-site
reference samples. 137Cs levels differed between the 3 treatment
groups (contaminated, on-site reference, off-site reference) for both muscle and
liver tissues. Muscle and liver samples from raccoons from on-site reference
areas were higher in 137Cs than those from off-site reference
animals. 137Cs in raccoon tissues from contaminated habitats exceeded
levels inthe pooled reference animals. The 2 contaminated areas differed
in 137Cstissue levels. Only 1of 20 raccoons from
contaminated sites onthe SRS exceededthe
European Economic (EEC) limit for 137Cs in edible muscle tissue of
0.6 Bq137Cs/g fresh
weight edible muscle. Further, none of the raccoons from the on-site reference
areas exceeded EEC limits for muscle. It is unlikely that the hunting public
faces any significant risk from exposure to raccoons from the SRS. Although some
raccoons might stray off the SRS which is closed to public access, most of the
heavily contaminated areas are not adjacent to the edges of' the site,
decreasing the potential for off-site movement of contaminated animals.